SOAPBOX of the week: the fallacious fame game

“Blessed is he whose fame does not outshine his truth.”     – Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali polymath and poet

Like history’s icons, today’s rising starlets rush the limelight, shoving, sacrificing and scratching to bask in the pedasteled, gilded glow.  If only for the clichéd 15 minutes, they still choose golden-calf glitterati over admired greatness in anonymity.  And like starving plants, unyieldingly bent towards the sparkle, they contort themselves into heinous weeds.  Drinking themselves drunk, they kill their flowering inner beauty and poison their roots with vanity, greed and conceit.  Ironically, the hotel heiress and reality show wannabe might not be so different from the new executive, neighborhood hotshot, self-crowned gym Adonis or mid-lifer avec arm-candy!  For behind the inflated ego and pompous presence lurks the withering truth of who they really are and who they wish they were.  When fame facades one’s genuine identity, failure and fear-filled days aren’t far behind.   Folks, regardless of the stage or summoning, lies beget banishment, but truth begets blessings.  So choose wisely, when you take a bow.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.
A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to
LIVESTRONG.

COMING in late ‘09: SOAPBOX® video subscriptions  for mobile & a network TV talk show

SOAPBOX of the week: reflection resurrection

 “Hindsight is 20/20.”     – Anonymous

No doubt, someone’s Mom coined this phrase…and she deserves to wear “The Crown of Common Sense”!  But whoever first shared this golden nugget of wisdom with you probably saw you stomp on it in youthful rebellion.  And yet a jillion times you’ve caught yourself shaking your foolish head, wishing you’d listened to your gut, screaming “Yes”, “No”, or “RUN!”  Well, that which doesn’t kill ya, only makes you stronger.  So, review your past, rethink your future, and refresh your promise to finding and following the truth within.  Tough to swallow?  Well, probably.  But remember, Mom’s always right.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.
A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to
LIVESTRONG.

SOAPBOX of the week: check your ego

“There’s one thing we ought to let folks find out for themselves, and that’s how great we are.”     – Kin Hubbard, cartoonist & journalist
   
Remember, as a child, feeling as though you could do absolutely anything?  Make yourself invisible, be an Olympic athlete, own a huge company, morph into a superhero, make a million dollars, be president someday.  Indeed, as the list grew daily, so did the volume, of your voice to ready the world for your coming!  That self-proclaimed omnipotence ensures your drive to succeed still to this day.  But tread carefully upon the trail of self-confidence; for left unchecked, unyielding conviction can wander out of control, undermine your natural gifts, instigate judgment and jealousy and leave you jaded and lonely.  Practice humility to combat the barbs.  And when tempted to broadcast your greatness, choose to beam it instead.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.
A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to
LIVESTRONG.

Looking for a cutting-edge speaker?  SOAPBOX® Motivation for the 21st Century

SOAPBOX of the week: Humility is priceless

 “Poverty is a lot like childbirth –you know it’s going to hurt before it happens, but you’ll never know how much until you experience it.”     – JK Rowling, author

If you know the frightful sound of your last coins rubbing together… then we’re on the same page.  And it’s tough to say which is more painful – not having the basics for civilized living, or having to ask someone, especially family, for some of theirs.  Losing everything at once or stuck struggling to fight the bleakness of poverty is humility in the making …and stinks of pride and judgment.  Pride of the suffering.  Judgment of those who label, shun and ridicule the population of have-nots.  Ironically, though, those who survive and rise up from the trenches are both blessed and truly aware.  Alas, it is the “privileged”who are cursed with the naivety of just how close they themselves might be to the bottom rung.  Lesson at hand, folks?  Take the high road whatever you bank account reads.  And remember to always count your blessing while counting your pennies.

Copyright 2008 by Kimberlie Dykeman

Pure Soapbox  now available!  Site of TV Personality Kimberlie Dykeman